Work in Progress: Post-Pandemic Opportunities to Re-Engineer Engineering Education: A Pragmatic-Futurist Framework

Shahrima Maharubin; Shamsul Arefeen; Ryan C. Campbell; Roman Taraban

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Conference: 2021 ASEE Virtual Annual Conference Content Access
Location: Virtual Conference
Publication Date: July 26, 2021
Start Date: July 26, 2021
End Date: July 19, 2022
Conference Session: Ethics, Mindfulness, and Reform During the COVID-19 Pandemic
Tagged Division: Liberal Education/Engineering & Society
Page Count: 18
DOI: 10.18260/1-2--38189
Permanent URL: https://peer.asee.org/38189
Download Count: 431

Paper Authors

biography

Shahrima Maharubin Texas Tech University

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I am a lifelong transformer. My personal, educational journey has built my skills as an engineer, leader, collaborator, and communicator. My education, engineering problem-solving skills and entrepreneurial spirit have naturally pushed me toward need-based innovation. The global pandemic has exacerbated societal problems and inequality and heightened the necessity of need-based innovation in many areas. One significant area is education. My goal is to leverage my skills to deliver innovative solutions for the Future of Education.

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biography

Shamsul Arefeen Texas Tech University orcid.org/0000-0002-1597-0611

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Having completed his Masters in Electrical Engineering at Texas Tech University in 2018, Shamsul is working towards a doctoral degree in the same discipline and institution. He completed his bachelors in Electrical and Electronics Engineering from Islamic University of Technology in Dhaka, Bangladesh in 2003. He has extensive work experience in telecommunications and electrical power industry. He takes interest in inter-disciplinary research areas including renewable energy. He taught freshmen engineering courses at Texas Tech University and drew inspiration of working towards continuous transformation of engineering education.

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Ryan C. Campbell Texas Tech University

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Having completed his Ph.D. through the University of Washington's interdisciplinary Individual Ph.D. Program (see bit.ly/uwiphd), Ryan is now a Postdoctoral Research Associate at Texas Tech University. He currently facilitates an interdisciplinary project entitled "Developing Reflective Engineers through Artful Methods." His scholarly interests include both teaching and research in engineering education, art in engineering, social justice in engineering, care ethics in engineering, humanitarian engineering, engineering ethics, and computer modeling of electric power and renewable energy systems.

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Roman Taraban Texas Tech University

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Roman Taraban is Professor in the Department of Psychological Sciences at Texas Tech University. He received his Ph.D. in cognitive psychology from Carnegie Mellon University. His interests are in how undergraduate students learn, and especially, in critical thinking and how students draw meaningful connections in traditional college content materials.

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Abstract

In the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, education has stepped up some of its long-overdue transformations. Higher education (HE) and Engineering Education (EE), particularly, is facing a potential crisis. Engineering schools and professional societies are dealing with several pressing problems that potentially threaten their survival. Although EE leaders are bound to focus on short-term survival, sustainable growth and development in the long term must also feature in the agenda. In this work, the context of disruption in the education domain is revisited through a literature review, related threats and opportunities are identified, and a strategic way forward is investigated in those lights from Engineering Education’s perspective to inform a pragmatic futurist’s perspective. A needs driven innovation model (why-what-how approach) is pursued to present the study where the shift in mindset, changes in infrastructure and leveraging digital technologies emerged as the central concepts. Each of those broad implementation categories encompassed various subsequent initiatives such as life-long learner’s mindset, focus on how-to-learn, a strong emphasis on professional skill development, industry-academia alliance, a reflective broadening of engineers’ considerations, and extensive opportunities for multi-disciplinary collaboration. To this end, we propose a renewed framework for the engineering education ecosystem featuring the key actors, including engineering students, faculty, and institutions. The new framework encourages fresh relationships among the stakeholders in the context of new modalities for the transfer and co-creation of knowledge, requirements, and possibilities for change in operational models and tapping into the boundary-breaking opportunities fostered by digital ways of teaching and learning. This study aims to provide a future-proof pathway for the engineering education ecosystem to better-equip it for solving real-world problems with a multi-disciplinary approach to create new value for society. In the process, the study also sheds light on relevant new research avenues.

Citation
Format

Maharubin, S., & Arefeen, S., & Campbell, R. C., & Taraban, R. (2021, July), Work in Progress: Post-Pandemic Opportunities to Re-Engineer Engineering Education: A Pragmatic-Futurist Framework Paper presented at 2021 ASEE Virtual Annual Conference Content Access, Virtual Conference. 10.18260/1-2--38189

TY  - CPAPER
AB  - In the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, education has stepped up some of its long-overdue transformations. Higher education (HE) and Engineering Education (EE), particularly, is facing a potential crisis. Engineering schools and professional societies are dealing with several pressing problems that potentially threaten their survival. Although EE leaders are bound to focus on short-term survival, sustainable growth and development in the long term must also feature in the agenda. In this work, the context of disruption in the education domain is revisited through a literature review, related threats and opportunities are identified, and a strategic way forward is investigated in those lights from Engineering Education’s perspective to inform a pragmatic futurist’s perspective. A needs driven innovation model (why-what-how approach) is pursued to present the study where the shift in mindset, changes in infrastructure and leveraging digital technologies emerged as the central concepts. Each of those broad implementation categories encompassed various subsequent initiatives such as life-long learner’s mindset, focus on how-to-learn, a strong emphasis on professional skill development, industry-academia alliance, a reflective broadening of engineers’ considerations, and extensive opportunities for multi-disciplinary collaboration. To this end, we propose a renewed framework for the engineering education ecosystem featuring the key actors, including engineering students, faculty, and institutions. The new framework encourages fresh relationships among the stakeholders in the context of new modalities for the transfer and co-creation of knowledge, requirements, and possibilities for change in operational models and tapping into the boundary-breaking opportunities fostered by digital ways of teaching and learning. This study aims to provide a future-proof pathway for the engineering education ecosystem to better-equip it for solving real-world problems with a multi-disciplinary approach to create new value for society. In the process, the study also sheds light on relevant new research avenues.
AU  - Shahrima Maharubin
AU  - Shamsul Arefeen
AU  - Ryan C. Campbell
AU  - Roman Taraban
CY  - Virtual Conference
DA  - 2021/07/26
PB  - ASEE Conferences
TI  - Work in Progress: Post-Pandemic Opportunities to Re-Engineer Engineering Education: A Pragmatic-Futurist Framework
UR  - https://peer.asee.org/38189
DO  - 10.18260/1-2--38189
ER  -